Rural America

Beware the Corporate Appropriation of “Sustainable” Farming Practices

Long-standing methods of agroecology can feed people, restore ecosystems and transform our food system—but not if agribusiness hollows them out.

Philip A. Loring

Trailer Park Residents Take on Venture Capitalists—and Win

As gentrification sweeps the West, investors are buying up mobile home parks. Residents of this Colorado park got together and bought it themselves.

Joseph Bullington

They Pick Food All Day, But Many Farmworkers Go to Sleep Hungry

Immigrant farmworkers in the U.S. often live in food deserts without access to the fruits and vegetables they spend their days harvesting.

Astra Lincoln

The Radical Immigrant Farmers Who Helped Defeat the Robber Barons

Beginning in the 1840s, revolutionary German immigrants introduced agrarian radicalism to Texas and shaped the U.S. tradition of rural socialism

Thomas Alter II

“It Tears You Apart Mentally and Physically”: The Health Crisis Afflicting Black Farmers

Farming is a stressful occupation. Black farmers face the additional burdens of racism, debt and fear of displacement.

Safiya Charles

The Food Crisis Didn’t Begin with the War in Ukraine

Even as the failures of industrial agriculture become obvious, U.S. agribusiness aims to force it on the rest of the world.

Jim Goodman

Bad Prison Food Can Cause Health Problems that Linger After Release

Due to unhealthy food, people in prisons and jails experience high rates of diabetes, heart disease, mental health issues and illnesses related to foodborne pathogens.

Lela Nargi

In Appalachia, the Mine Cleanup System Has Collapsed

Coal companies are declaring bankruptcy. State regulators are failing to hold them accountable. And residents are left to suffer the environmental fallout from abandoned mines.

Dan Radmacher

Surging Wheat Prices and Fertilizer Shortages: How the War in Ukraine Could Impact U.S. Agriculture

Both Ukraine and Russia are major exporters of agricultural products. In a market that’s “incredibly global,” U.S. farmers will feel the effects of war and sanctions.

Johnathan Hettinger, Madison McVan and Amanda Pérez Pintado

The Fight to Reclaim Colorado's Privatized Rivers for the Public

A fisherman’s lawsuit pushes back against a tide of wealth-driven privatization that seeks to deny public access to waterways and other public resources.

Mark Squillace

A New Law Promised Debt Relief for Black Farmers. Instead, Some Got Collection Notices.

The American Rescue Plan included $4 billion in debt relief for farmers of color, but a lawsuit has thrown the program, and the farmers who need it, into limbo.

April Simpson

“Strange Paradox:” Rural Towns Surrounded By Farmland Are Losing Food Access

In many rural areas, dollar stores are replacing grocery stores. An Illinois town responded by opening a community-owned market.

Amanda Pérez Pintado

The U.S. Dairy System Is in Crisis and Exporting More Milk to Canada Won’t Fix It

U.S. farm policies are bad for dairy farmers, cows, customers and the climate. We shouldn’t try to defeat Canada’s dairy system—we should learn from it.

Niaz Dorry

The Gentrification of the Rural West

What happens to a working-class town when developers put a resort where the sawmill used to be?

Ryanne Pilgeram

Death of a Sales Barn: How Corporations Took Over Our Food System

A new report explains how a handful of agribusiness firms came to dominate U.S. agriculture, how they’re ruining rural America, and how we can stop them.

Zoe Pharo

Farmers Reject Nicor's Pipe Dream

Residents of the historic Black farming community of Pembroke, Illinois want an energy upgrade—but they want renewables, not fossil fuels.

Zoe Pharo

How to Live with the New Predator that Stalks the West

Unwilling to share the landscape with grizzlies, wolves and other predators, the U.S. exterminated most of them. With wildfire, we don’t have that option.

Pepper Trail

Swamped by Vacation Rentals, Small Towns in the West Are Fighting Back

An explosion in the number of short-term rentals is contributing to an affordable housing crisis in the rural West. Some communities have responded by banning them.

Erika Bolstad